"When are you going to do one on a
Yankee?"
You have no idea how many times I've heard
this...

This usually happens after I am
approached at a book signing by out-of-towners who
aren't familiar with my work (which tends to be the
majority of them - haha). They walk up to my table,
look down at the Confederate flag, flip through my
Christian books on Jackson and Stuart (now on CD
too), they grab some of my free Civil War coloring
books for kids, a couple bookmarks, media kit,
brochure, and other handouts, then they shake my
hand, allow me to talk about my work, buy a book
(or sometimes two), I sign it with a verse or two
of scripture, and then they never fail to ask why I
haven't written a religious study on a Union
general.

The
first few times, I acknowledged their inquiry and
said that I was certainly thinking about it. By the
fifteenth time, I started to get annoyed. Even my
mother, a Pennsylvania native, has mentioned my
favoritism toward the Confederacy in my work and I
cannot deny this fact. But come on folks, I live in
Fredericksburg, Virginia and it's kinda' hard not
to "root" for the home team.

Regardless, please don't
misunderstand; it is by no conscious effort that I
have avoided the topic of Christian Federal
commanders. In fact, I have actually made a
concerted effort to incorporate more of a northern
contingency in my recent work (you can see some of
this over on my website including an essay on
Reverend Father William Corby, Chaplain of the
Irish Brigade).

However, after spending some time
doing research, I don't think that I could write an
entire Christian-bio (in the same vein as the
others) on a Yankee, and give it the same level of
detail and spiritual zeal. To be honest, there just
doesn't seem to be the same religious fervor, or
what secular/progressives would probably call
"fanaticism" among the northern generals.

Now
I'll be the first to admit that perhaps this is an
incorrect assumption, and one that I may have
interpreted solely on the basis of my own location
(the South) OR, there may be some truth in the
notion that one of the major differences that
existed between the Confederate and Union armies
was the theology that drove their commanders. It
has been a bit of a challenge and I wish that I had
more time between projects to explore it.

One
general in a blue uniform that meets (and may even
exceed) my own personal expectations as potential
book-matter is General Oliver Howard. I
rediscovered him a month or so ago after I was
asked to do an online chat about the role of
religion in the Civil War for the great folks at
the CWHC. As people attended this online
presentation from all over, I worked extra hard at
giving equal time to both sides. Howard, also known
as the "Christian General" was one of my topics
which I titled "Oliver Howard: Battlefield
Believer." Here is an excerpt:

I'm
sure most (if not all) of you have seen the Ron
Maxwell films "Gettysburg" and "Gods and Generals."
Obviously "G&G" is a blatant example of
religion and it's impact on the war, but I would
like to refer to a scene from "Gettysburg" in which
General Longstreet is sharing a cup of tea(?) with
their British observer and discussing the
differences in their ideology. At one point,
Longstreet makes a candid comment saying, "I reckon
we whipped you British twice." He then responds to
the observer's laughter and reply by saying
something along the lines of "We Southerners like
our generals to be like our preachers… religious,
and a little mad."

Although these lines are quoted
from a Hollywood script and obviously inserted as
conjecture, they are (IMO) very accurate. Without a
doubt, 19th-Century Southerners were more openly
religious than their northern counterparts. For
instance, I pass no less than five, 1800's-era
churches on the way to work, and I only live a few
miles away. This can also be seen in the way that
they acknowledged their generals. In essence, both
sides may have believed that their cause was the
more righteous one - but the Confederacy REALLY
believed that God was on their side and that the
were soldiers in the "Army of the Lord."

This resulted in a strong feeling
of loyalty from the Southern troops, and an
admiration (even at times, an adoration that
bordered on hero-worship) of the commanders that
was not as prevalent in the North. For example, the
Stonewall Brigade would have happily followed their
beloved Stonewall Jackson straight into the pits of
Hell if asked. I highly doubt that Burnsides, or
even McClellan, would have had the same "blind"
obedience in their ranks. (Although the Battle of
Fredericksburg may disprove my theory there?) In
the end, Southern generals were looked at as
"gods," while their Northern counterparts were mere
mortals in the eyes of their troops.

One Yankee officer did fit
the bill and could have just as easily
been attending camp service in a different
colored uniform - if not for politics, a
strong opinion against slavery, and a
sense of duty toward preserving the Union.
That man was General Oliver Otis Howard,
who personified the Christian Soldier.
Even in battle Howard was as much a moral
crusader as a warrior, insisting that his
troops attend prayer and temperance
meetings. A recent PBS documentary summed
up the life of Oliver Howard perfectly
when it said, "Throughout his long
military career, Oliver Howard gained
victory by the force of his moral
convictions, as often as by force of
arms."

In 1857, Howard was a full-time soldier who was
deployed to Florida for the Seminole Wars. It was
there that he experienced a conversion to
evangelical Christianity and considered resigning
from the army to become a minister. His religious
proclivities would later earn him the nickname "the
Christian general." On the outbreak of the American
Civil War, Howard, an opponent of slavery, resigned
his regular army commission and became colonel of
the Third Maine Volunteers in the Union Army. Much
like Jackson, Howard made spiritual strengthening a
daily part of his troop's regiments.

As
the war progressed, a movement referred to as "The
Great Revival" took place in the South. Beginning
in the fall of 1863, this event was in full
progress throughout the Army of Northern Virginia.
Before the revival was interrupted by Grant's
attack in May 1864, approximately seven thousand
soldiers-10 percent of Lee's force-were reportedly
converted. Dr. Gardiner H. Shattuck, Jr., author of
"A Shield and Hiding Place: The Religious Life of
the Civil War Armies," reports that "The best
estimates of conversions in the Union forces place
the figure between 100,000 and 200,000 men-about
5-10 percent of all individuals engaged in the
conflict. In the smaller Confederate armies, at
least 100,000 were converted. Since these numbers
include only "conversions" and do not represent the
number of soldiers actually swept up in the
revivals-a yet more substantial figure-the impact
of revivals during the Civil War surely was
tremendous."

According to some accounts, in the
early stages of the war, revivals like the one
Howard led were not the rule but the exception.
Religion did not seem to have left home with the
soldiers. The magazine "Christianity Today"
recalled the trials and tribulations with living a
Godly life while on campaign. It stated:
"Day-to-day army life was so boring that men were
often tempted to "make some foolishness," as one
soldier typified it. Profanity, gambling,
drunkenness, sexual licentiousness, and petty
thievery confronted those who wanted to practice
their faith. Christians complained that no Sabbath
was observed; despite the efforts of a few generals
like George McClellan and Oliver O. Howard,
ordinary routines went on as if Sunday meant
nothing at all. General Robert McAllister, an
officer who was working closely with the United
States Christian Commission, complained that a
"tide of irreligion" had rolled over his army "like
a mighty wave."

Unfortunately, Howard's
motivational efforts did not always transpire on
the battlefield in the same manner that it did for
Jackson's brigades. At the Battle of Fair Oaks
(June1862) he was wounded twice in the right arm.
The second wound shattered his bone near the elbow.
It was amputated, and Howard spent two months
recovering from his wounds before coming back. He
was also given the Medal of Honor as a result of
his own gallantry.

According to an August 1864 issue
of "Harper's Weekly": "General Howard has lost his
right arm in his country's service. It used to be a
joke between him and Kearney, who had lost his left
arm, that, as a matter of economy, they might
purchase their gloves together." One of Howard's
most significant moments (in the field) came at
Gettysburg, where he assumed command of Reynolds
troops after he was killed.

After the war, he was appointed
head of the Freedman's Bureau, which was designed
to protect and assist the newly freed slaves. In
this position, Howard quickly earned the contempt
of white Southerners and many Northerners for his
unapologetic support of black suffrage and his
efforts to distribute land to African-Americans. He
was also fearlessly candid about expressing his
belief that the majority of white Southerners would
be happy to see slavery restored. He even
championed freedom and equality for former slaves
in his private life, by working to make his elite
Washington, D.C., church racially integrated and by
helping to found an all-black college in the
District of Columbia, which was soon named Howard
University in his honor.

In
addition, Howard was active in Indian engagements
and subsequent relations in the West and is
remembered as a man of his word and of strong moral
convictions. As was quite common, many of the
surviving commanders of the Civil War became
"celebrities" in the public eye, and they often
signed autographs. Howard routinely signed his "The
Lord Is My Shepard."

Much like Thomas "Stonewall"
Jackson was in the South, Oliver "O" Howard is to
be credited for his evangelistic efforts on behalf
of the North, in addition to his activism on behalf
of all minorities living in the U.S. at the time.
He was a man of God who ultimately became a man of
the people - ALL people - regardless of the color
of their skin.

So
there you go critics… there's one on a Yankee.
And a damn (good) Yankee too.